Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 837 Three Han Emperors
Within a few days, a manifesto spread far and wide, shocking the whole world and causing an uproar in the country.

After abdicating the throne to Liu He, Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, who was granted the title of Marquis of Qiangyin, actually left Yanmen and came to Yuzhou.

He issued a manifesto, denouncing Liu He for deceiving the emperor and arbitrarily ruling the country when he was the general, forcing the young him to abdicate to him. He then sent many secret agents to closely monitor his life in Qiangyin.

Many officials in the court were loyal to the country and dissatisfied with Liu He. Therefore, after Liu He usurped the throne, he used many reasons to eliminate dissidents, suppress loyal officials, and kill many ministers one by one. He supported his own confidants to seize power in the court. His crimes were extremely heinous.

Cao Cao was loyal and went through many hardships to rescue himself from Yanmen. He was truly loyal to his country and made outstanding contributions.

In view of this, Emperor Xian of Han appointed Cao Cao as the general and Marquis of Tingzhen, and ordered him to lead the army of the world to suppress the rebellion and kill the bandits and restore peace to the Han Dynasty.

In addition, Emperor Xian of Han also issued a second manifesto to commend his uncle Liu Yan, saying that he was able to turn the tide for the country and fight against the traitor Liu He when the country was in danger, and he was indeed meritorious to the ancestral temple. Therefore, he pardoned his crime of proclaiming himself emperor, named him King of Hanzhong, and asked him to send troops north to assist General Cao Cao in attacking Liu He and help the court return to the capital Luoyang as soon as possible. At the same time, Emperor Xian called on the princes of the world to rise up and fight against the rebellion. Those who were stubborn would be punished when they succeeded, and those who sent troops to help would be made marquises.

This sudden change plunged the entire Han Dynasty into a strange atmosphere, adding a bit of inexplicable coldness to this cold winter.

Especially in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, from the palace maids to the civil officials and military officers, everyone was silent.

Since this news reached Luoyang, it shocked the government and the public.

At this urgent court meeting, all the ministers stood in a row on both sides. Except for a few people, most of the ministers looked like they were in danger.

Liu He sat on the dragon throne with a gloomy face, looking at the many ministers below. No one spoke for a long time during the court meeting.

"What's wrong? Why is no one talking?"

His tone was extremely gloomy and he was so furious that all the officials were terrified.

Guanglu Xun Meng Jian looked at the court officials around him, and then he was the first to stand up.

"Your Majesty, Cao's move is intended to remove your Majesty's legitimate position to ascend the throne. Your Majesty's throne was abdicated to His Majesty Emperor Xian, but now His Majesty Emperor Xian is controlled by Cao. Cao has used his name to announce to the world that Your Majesty is a traitor who usurped the throne. This is really a plan to cut off the source of the fire. I think that if Your Majesty wants to deal with this plan, you must start to counterattack against His Majesty Emperor Xian's identity."

Liu He looked at Meng Jian: "How to fight back?"

"The abdication of Emperor Xian to Your Majesty was witnessed by the Three Dukes, recorded in the ancestral temple genealogy by the Imperial Clan Chief, and then made public to Heaven and Earth. This was legitimate and there is nothing suspicious about it. Afterwards, Emperor Xian was given the title of Empress Qiangyin and lived in Yanmen, enjoying the grasslands, horses, and toys all day long. Your Majesty gave him the ceremonial guards of the Son of Heaven, and there was no impoliteness in his daily life, let alone trying to kill him."

"From a moral, logical and legal perspective, the current emperor of the Han Dynasty is your majesty. Even if the ancestors of the Han Dynasty appeared in spirit, there should be no objection. Your majesty, Emperor Xian, has lost his title as the emperor. Now he is only the Marquis of Qiangyin, a marquis. How can he issue a proclamation to the world and announce it to the four seas to restore his throne and become emperor again?"

As soon as Meng Jian finished speaking, Grand Herald Shi Tao stood up and refuted: "Gong Wei's words are reasonable, but also biased."

Meng Jian looked at him and said, "How is it biased? Brother Guangyuan, please tell us and let's discuss it."

After Shi Tao bowed to Liu He, he said, "We, your subjects, are loyal to Your Majesty and naturally understand this. But Your Majesty's throne was inherited by Emperor Xian, which is an indisputable fact. There are more than tens of millions of people in the world, and more than a hundred thousand scholars. Among them, there must be those who are confused, those who have uncertain positions, and those who have ulterior motives. Especially the criminals and wealthy families executed by Your Majesty, their orphans, relatives and friends, they will inevitably take this opportunity to rise up and attack Your Majesty."

"If this happens, people's hearts will be scattered, and the army's morale will also be unstable. The army will recruit soldiers, the court will recruit talents, the government will issue orders, and the tax collection will all be greatly affected. The Cao thieves will take advantage of the situation to grow stronger. This will be very disadvantageous to the court. Even if your majesty is wise and the generals are brave, you can win the battle, but it is difficult to eliminate the root of this harm."

Liu He let out a long sigh: "I deeply agree with what Guangyuan said, so I summoned all the ministers to discuss countermeasures. That Cao A Man took away the imperial nephew while Xu Huang was injured in the expedition to Youzhou and had not returned to Yanmen for a while, leaving Yanmen unguarded. Although his intentions were sinister and his tricks were despicable, they are also a major threat at present. The remnants of the sinners such as Chen Ji and Feng Fang will surely echo each other and spread rumors everywhere, causing chaos in my court and the army without a fight. What do you think, my dear ministers, should we do to prevent it?" Still, no one of the ministers came forward to offer advice. Liu He didn't have much hope for them. After a quick look, he finally set his sights on Xun Yu.

Xun Yu felt the emperor's gaze and did not delay, but stepped forward immediately.

"In my humble opinion, Your Majesty should respond to all changes with the same attitude."

"Hmm?" Liu He was a little puzzled: "Wen Ruo, tell me in detail."

"As you say." Xun Yu accepted the order.

"Since Your Majesty took charge of the divine weapon, you have reduced taxes and levies, encouraged agriculture and sericulture, developed production, cracked down on the powerful, and strictly enforced laws and discipline, making the people prosperous and orderly. In this way, the people will naturally be loyal to you. Ordinary people only care about which emperor can make them live a good life. They naturally don't care about legal principles and nitpicking. Therefore, Your Majesty does not need to worry about the people's hearts."

Liu He nodded repeatedly, agreeing very much: "Wen Ruo's words make sense."

Xun Yu continued, "Those who are disturbed by this manifesto and have weak minds or are plotting rebellion are mostly scholars. Only they will be so fussy about the so-called legal orthodoxy, and among them there will inevitably be some petty people who will get stuck in a rut and even deliberately slander Your Majesty."

Liu He nodded and said, "Well, since I ascended the throne, I have repeatedly taken action against the nobles and wealthy families, which has long caused dissatisfaction among many people. I have also been prepared for this, but I did not expect such a drastic change this time, and it has given these people with ulterior motives an excuse to attack me. I am afraid that it will become more and more difficult for the court to recruit talents in the future, while Cao Ze, Liu Yan and others can benefit greatly from it. I really cannot accept this."

Liu He understood very well that whether he was conquering the world or ruling the world, he must put people first. This "people" included both the common people and the talents he employed.

The people's hearts are the foundation, and the civil and military talents are his right-hand men. His territory is getting bigger and bigger, his power is getting bigger and bigger, and the affairs of the court are getting more and more complicated. Over the years, he rarely went to the battlefield in person. One reason was that it was not necessary, and the other was that he was really busy with government affairs and it was difficult to leave. Even so, Liu He often felt overwhelmed.

After he dealt with Feng Fang and others, although the charges were proven, many scholars still believed that he was punishing loyal officials with trumped-up charges. After all, killing his own grandson to frame others was really unthinkable.

Apart from anything else, after their death, more than 300 of the 800 students in the Imperial Academy dropped out within a few months. In addition, he issued an edict to all places to recommend talents again. Although there was no Feng Fang and others secretly making trouble, the number of people recommended in the end was only one-third of that in previous years. This was certainly because some people were implicated and executed, but there were also many people who were dissatisfied with him as the emperor and the court and were unwilling to take up official positions.

Now that Cao Cao has supported Emperor Xian, it can be said that there is a legitimate banner. Liu He knows without a doubt that a large number of scholars will flock to Yuzhou.

Xun Yu said: "The hearts of scholars are the easiest to win over, but also the hardest to win over. They turned away from Your Majesty because they mistakenly believed that Your Majesty only knew how to get close to barbaric warriors and had no respect for scholars. In this way, they felt that they were despised and naturally did not want to serve Your Majesty. Unless Your Majesty can prove that you value the virtuous and treat scholars well, they will never turn back."

Meng Jian said dissatisfiedly: "How can this be proved? We have followed Your Majesty for a long time, so we naturally know it, but others do not know Your Majesty's wisdom and mistakenly believe what others say. How can we know everything with just a few words? After using many means to show Your Majesty's broad mind, I am afraid that thousands and tens of thousands of people have already surrendered to the Yuzhou bandits."

Xun Yu smiled and said, "That is why I suggest Your Majesty not to worry too much about this. This matter can only be planned slowly, and it is difficult to rush it. Your Majesty can issue an order to rebuild the Imperial College, and even personally receive a group of students from the Imperial College, as well as talented scholars recommended by various places, to commend them and even use them, and then plan slowly in the future, waiting for the world's scholars to return. Cao Cao's current power, no matter how many people surrender to him, it is difficult to change the difference in strength between him and the court. The court has plenty of time to waste him, and he should be the one who is anxious. After all, he is already in danger. Once Yuzhou and Xuzhou are lost again, Cao Cao himself will become a prisoner, and this matter will be left unresolved."

Liu He sighed slightly: "Alas... In the end, this is the only way."

After he finished speaking, his expression changed and his eyes became extremely determined.

"Next year, I will personally lead the army to capture Cao's head and return home to see how he can stir up trouble. I will also see what those villains who secretly colluded with him and tried to rebel against the court can do."

(End of this chapter)